Now the ghost throws those harsh words back into Scrooges own face, compelling him to hang his head in shame and feel overcome with penitence and grief. Without seeing the family of his employee Bob Cratchit, it seems unlikely that Scrooge would have experienced such a change of heart in his thoughts about and treatment of the poor. Scrooge sees the family make much of a simple goose for dinner. Scrooge was the Ogre of the family. There were ruddy, brown-faced, broad-girthed Spanish Onions, shining in the fatness of their growth like Spanish Friars, and winking from their shelves in wanton slyness at the girls as they went by, and glanced demurely at the hung-up mistletoe. But he raised them speedily, on hearing his own name. He knows and cares nothing about Cratchit's life and family. (c) Copyright 2012 - 2023 The Circumlocution Office | All Rights Reserved | Built by The Circumlocution Office using WordPress. He dont make himself comfortable with it. You know he is, Robert! Have never walked forth with the younger members of my family; meaning (for I am very young) my elder brothers born in these later years? pursued the Phantom. When this strain of music sounded, all the things that Ghost had shown him, came upon his mind; he softened more and more; and thought that if he could have listened to it often, years ago, he might have cultivated the kindnesses of life for his own happiness with his own hands, without resorting to the sextons spade that buried Jacob Marley. The compound in the jug being tasted, and considered perfect, apples and oranges were put upon the table, and a shovel-full of chestnuts on the fire. Why, bless your heart alive, my dear, how late you are! said Mrs. Cratchit, kissing her a dozen times, and taking off her shawl and bonnet for her with officious zeal. I know what it is, Fred! Hay and coal can self-ignite, but Dickens claimed that human bodies could do so as well. Bless those women; they never do anything by halves. But when at last, he caught her; when, in spite of all her silken rustlings, and her rapid flutterings past him, he got her into a corner whence there was no escape; then his conduct was the most execrable. ", Thus chastised, Scrooge, "bent before the Ghost's rebuke," lifts his head as he hears his name. And now, without a word of warning from the Ghost, they stood upon a bleak and desert moor, where monstrous masses of rude stone were cast about, as though it were the burial-place of giants; and water spread itself wheresoever it listed, or would have done so, but for the frost that held it prisoner; and nothing grew but moss and furze[9], and coarse rank grass. The children drank the toast after her. As the last stroke ceased to vibrate, he remembered the prediction of old Jacob Marley, and lifting up his eyes, beheld a solemn Phantom, draped and hooded, coming, like a mist along the ground, towards him. The walls and ceiling were so hung with living green, that it looked a perfect grove; from every part of which, bright gleaming berries glistened. Latest answer posted December 01, 2021 at 9:27:30 PM. Are there no prisons? said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. Mrs. Cratchit calls Mr. Scrooge an "odious, stingy, hard, unfeeling man," and if Bob hadn't reminded her that it was Christmas Day and to calm herself in front of the children, she would never. Mrs Cratchitdressed out but poorly in a twice-turned gown, but brave in ribbons, which are cheap, and make a goodly show for sixpence. Scrooge bent before the Ghosts rebuke, and trembling cast his eyes upon the ground. Blessings on it, how the Ghost exulted! No doubt she told him her opinion of it, when, another blind-man being in office, they were so very confidential together, behind the curtains. Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility. Martha didnt like to see him disappointed, if it were only in joke; so she came out prematurely from behind the closet door, and ran into his arms, while the two young Cratchits hustled Tiny Tim, and bore him off into the wash-house, that he might hear the pudding singing in the copper. Eked out by apple-sauce and mashed potatoes, it was a sufficient dinner for the whole family; indeed, as Mrs. Cratchit said with great delight (surveying one small atom of a bone upon the dish), they hadnt ate it all at last! And their assembled friends being not a bit behindhand, roared out lustily. It has been done in your name, or at least in that of your family, said Scrooge. Tiny Tim drank it last of all, but he didn't care twopence for it. Ha, ha, ha!. God bless us!. Scrooges niece was not one of the blind-mans buff party, but was made comfortable with a large chair and a footstool, in a snug corner, where the Ghost and Scrooge were close behind her. Scrooge, Marley's business partner, signed the register of his burial. With a dimpled, surprised-looking, capital face; a ripe little mouth, that seemed made to be kissedas no doubt it was; all kinds of good little dots about her chin, that melted into one another when she laughed; and the sunniest pair of eyes you ever saw in any little creatures head. There was first a game at blind-mans buff. Discover more quotations from A Christmas Carol. Joining their horny hands over the rough table at which they sat, they wished each other Merry Christmas in their can of grog; and one of them: the elder, too, with his face all damaged and scarred with hard weather, as the figure-head of an old ship might be: struck up a sturdy song that was like a Gale in itself. And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. look here! Bob Cratchit told them how he had a situation in his eye for Master Peter . Their sentiments are not missed by the miser who realizes he is the "Ogre of the family.". One half hour, Spirit, only one!. Long life to him! He is especially emotionally affected by Tiny Tims poignant words and behavior, by seeing how much the child is loved and how much he loves others, even when his own lot in life is so difficult. There were great, round, pot-bellied baskets of chestnuts, shaped like the waistcoats of jolly old gentlemen, lolling at the doors, and tumbling out into the street in their apoplectic opulence. In easy state upon this couch, there sat a jolly Giant, glorious to see, who bore a glowing torch, in shape not unlike Plentys horn, and held it up, high up, to shed its light on Scrooge, as he came peeping round the door. Not coming! said Bob, with a sudden declension in his high spirits; for he had been Tims blood horse all the way from church, and had come home rampant. Alas for Tiny Tim, he bore a little crutch, and had his limbs supported by an iron frame! on which one drinks the health of such an odious, stingy, hard, unfeeling man as Mr. Scrooge. The lamp-lighter who ran before dotting the dusky streets with specks of the light laughed out loud as the spirits passed. Girded round its middle was an antique scabbard; but no sword was in it, and the ancient sheath was eaten up with rust. Hide, Martha, hide!. Id give him a piece of my mind to feast upon, and I hope hed have a good appetite for it., My dear, said Bob, the children! After it had passed away they were ten times merrier than before, from the mere relief of Scrooge the Baleful being done with. There were great, round, pot-bellied baskets of chestnuts, shaped like the waistcoats of jolly old gentlemen, lolling at the doors, and tumbling out into the street in their apoplectic opulence. For his pretending not to know her; his pretending that it was necessary to touch her head-dress, and further to assure himself of her identity by pressing a certain ring upon her finger, and a certain chain about her neck; was vile, monstrous! Down in the west the setting sun had left a streak of fiery red, which glared upon the desolation for an instant, like a sullen eye, and frowning lower, lower, lower yet, was lost in the thick gloom of darkest night. Scrooge is the main character of Dickens's novella and is first presented as a miserly, unpleasant man. Bakers were forbidden to bake bread on Sundays and holidays, but for a small fee they allowed people to bring meals to be cooked in their bakery ovens. Alight shone from the window of a hut, and swiftly they advanced towards it. Scrooge did as he was told, and held it fast. He begins to care about them, especially poor Tiny Tim, who can't get medical treatments because of how little Scrooge pays his father. Where graceful youth should have filled their features out, and touched them with its freshest tints, a stale and shrivelled hand, like that of age, had pinched, and twisted them, and pulled them into shreds. Here, the flickering of the blaze showed preparations for a cosy dinner, with hot plates baking through and through before the fire, and deep red curtains, ready to be drawn to shut out cold and darkness. The Daughters of the Late Colonel: II, 177. After Bob Cratchit toasts Mr. Scrooge as "the founder of the feast," the person who made their Christmas dinner possible, Mrs. Cratchit follows with a sarcastic toast of her own. He has given us plenty of merriment, I am sure, said Fred, and it would be ungrateful not to drink his health. In almshouse, hospital, and jail, in miserys every refuge, where vain man in his little brief authority had not made fast the door, and barred the Spirit out, he left his blessing, and taught Scrooge his precepts. At every fresh question that was put to him, this nephew burst into a fresh roar of laughter; and was so inexpressibly tickled, that he was obliged to get up off the sofa and stamp. Five minutes, ten minutes, a quater of an hour went by, yet nothing came. It was a long night, if it were only a night; but Scrooge had his doubts of this, because the Christmas Holidays appeared to be condensed into the space of time they passed together. A place where Miners live, who labour in the bowels of the earth, returned the Spirit. Deeply moved by the love and warmth in the home of his clerk, Scrooge also notices that Bob's voice "was tremulous" when he tells the family about Tiny Tim's visit to the church where he tells his father that he hopes others see him so that they will remember that it was Christ who made beggars walk and blind men see. How does Dickens show this to be true? And now, without a word of warning from the Ghost, they stood upon a bleak and desert moor, where monstrous masses of rude stone were cast about, as though it were the burial-place of giants; and water spread itself wheresoever it listed, or would have done so, but for the frost that held it prisoner; and nothing grew but moss and furze, and coarse rank grass. It was a much greater surprise to Scrooge to recognise it as his own nephews and to find himself in a bright, dry, gleaming room, with the Spirit standing smiling by his side, and looking at that same nephew with approving affability! What then. The house fronts looked black enough, and the windows blacker, contrasting with the smooth white sheet of snow upon the roofs, and with the dirtier snow upon the ground; which last deposit had been ploughed up in deep furrows by the heavy wheels of carts and waggons; furrows that crossed and recrossed each other hundreds of times where the great streets branched off; and made intricate channels, hard to trace in the thick yellow mud and icy water. Are there no workhouses?. Scrooges nieces sisters, and all the other ladies, expressed the same opinion. The brisk fire of questioning to which he was exposed, elicited from him that he was thinking of an animal, a live animal, rather a disagreeable animal, a savage animal, an animal that growled and grunted sometimes, and talked sometimes, and lived in London, and walked about the streets, and wasnt made a show of, and wasnt led by anybody, and didnt live in a menagerie, and was never killed in a market, and was not a horse, or an ass, or a cow, or a bull, or a tiger, or a dog, or a pig, or a cat, or a bear. There never was such a goose. Scrooges niece was not one of the blind-mans buff party, but was made comfortable with a large chair and a footstool, in a snug corner, where the Ghost and Scrooge were close behind her. It does not matter to them that their meal is small, that the pudding smells like laundry, or that they dont have enough punch cups. ", Scrooge wants to profit in a different way, he recognises that there are things that are just as valuable as money. An old, old man and woman, with their children and their childrens children, and another generation beyond that, all decked out gaily in their holiday attire. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved, "Secret, And Self-contained, And Solitary As An Oyster", https://www.enotes.com/topics/christmas-carol. However, his offences carry their own punishment, and I have nothing to say against him., Im sure he is very rich, Fred, hinted Scrooges niece. Look here.. The narrator calls Dickens an Ogre of the Cratchit Family. Spirit, are they yours? Scrooge could say no more. And your brother, Tiny Tim? 'I see a vacant seat'replied the Ghost,'in the poor chimney-corner, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved. No change, no degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any grade, through all the mysteries of wonderful creation, has monsters half so horrible and dread. The brisk fire of questioning to which he was exposed, elicited from him that he was thinking of an animal, a live animal, rather a disagreeable animal, a savage animal, an animal that growled and grunted sometimes, and talked sometimes, and lived in London, and walked about the streets, and wasnt made a show of, and wasnt led by anybody, and didnt live in a menagerie, and was never killed in a market, and was not a horse, or an ass, or a cow, or a bull, or a tiger, or a dog, or a pig, or a cat, or a bear. Ha, ha! laughed Scrooges nephew. Heres Martha, mother! said a girl, appearing as she spoke. Having them shown to him in this way, he tried to say they were fine children, but the words choked themselves, rather than be parties to a lie of such enormous magnitude. A great deal of steam! Christmas Day., It should be Christmas Day, I am sure, said she, on which one drinks the health of such an odious, stingy, hard, unfeeling man as Mr Scrooge. In time the bells ceased, and the bakers were shut up; and yet there was a genial shadowing forth of all these dinners and the progress of their cooking, in the thawed blotch of wet above each bakers oven; where the pavement smoked as if its stones were cooking too. That was the cloth. There was nothing of high mark in this. But now, the plates being changed by Miss Belinda, Mrs. Cratchit left the room alonetoo nervous to bear witnessesto take the pudding up and bring it in. Study Questions, Activities, and Resources, 213. Eked out by apple-sauce and mashed potatoes, it was a sufficient dinner for the whole family; indeed, as Mrs Cratchit said with great delight (surveying one small atom of a bone upon the dish), they hadnt ate it all at last! But he raised them speedily, on hearing his own name. What has ever got your precious father then? said Mrs Cratchit. Scrooge! said Bob; Ill give you Mr. Scrooge, the Founder of the Feast!The Founder of the Feast indeed! cried Mrs. Cratchit, reddening. Scrooge promised that he would; and they went on, invisible, as they had been before, into the suburbs of the town. Ill give you Mr. Scrooge, the Founder of the Feast! It was the first of their proceedings which had no heartiness. To-night, if you have aught to teach me, let me profit by it.. Oh, perfectly satisfactory. The Daughters of the Late Colonel: III, 178. Wouldnt you?, You seek to close these places on the Seventh Day? said Scrooge. He obeyed. This part of the storybegins to effectthe change of character in Ebenezer Scrooge. Despite these circumstances, Bob Cratchit represents the opposite qualities of Scrooge including kindness, generosity and the love of his family members. The ghost replies by saying that if things go on as they are, then the poor boy will die. That was the pudding! English Literature: Victorians and Moderns, Self-ignition. For they were a musical family, and knew what they were about, when they sung a Glee or Catch[11], I can assure you: especially Topper, who could growl away in the bass like a good one, and never swell the large veins in his forehead, or get red in the face over it. Are spirits lives so short? asked Scrooge. But this the Spirit said could not be done. After finally allowing him to leave for the night, Scrooge. It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good-humour. Without venturing for Scrooge quite as hardily as this, I dont mind calling on you to believe that he was ready for a good broad field of strange appearances, and that nothing between a baby and rhinoceros would have astonished him very much. Mrs Cratchit said that now the weight was off her mind, she would confess she had had her doubts about the quantity of flour. No doubt she told him her opinion of it, when, another blind-man being in office, they were so very confidential together, behind the curtains. Do go on, Fred, said Scrooges niece, clapping her hands. To a poor one most., Spirit, said Scrooge, after a moments thought, I wonder you, of all the beings in the many worlds about us, should desire to cramp these peoples opportunities of innocent enjoyment., You would deprive them of their means of dining every seventh day, often the only day on which they can be said to dine at all, said Scrooge. At last the dinner was all done, the cloth was cleared, the hearth swept, and the fire made up. A smell like a washing-day! Topper had clearly got his eye upon one of Scrooges nieces sisters, for he answered that a bachelor was a wretched outcast, who had no right to express an opinion on the subject. It was a much greater surprise to Scrooge to recognise it as his own nephews and to find himself in a bright, dry, gleaming room, with the Spirit standing smiling by his side, and looking at that same nephew with approving affability. God bless us!. He then looked at the knocker with great affection. Scrooges nephew revelled in another laugh, and as it was impossible to keep the infection off; though the plump sister tried hard to do it with aromatic vinegar; his example was unanimously followed. Likewise at the game of How, When, and Where, she was very great, and to the secret joy of Scrooges nephew, beat her sisters hollow: though they were sharp girls too, as could have told you. There, he witnesses the Cratchit family enjoy a Christmas meal including a Chritmas pudding. Explanatory Notes to Juno and the Paycock, 151. It was clothed in one simple green robe, or mantle, bordered with white fur. The pudding was out of the copper. The Spirit did not tarry here, but bade Scrooge hold his robe, and passing on above the moor, sped whither. The yard was so dark that even Scrooge, who knew its every stone, was fain to grope with his hands. Ebenezer Scrooge (/ b n i z r s k r u d /) is the protagonist of Charles Dickens's 1843 novella A Christmas Carol.At the beginning of the novella, Scrooge is a cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas.The tale of his redemption by three spirits (the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come) has become a defining . Whats the consequence? Christmas Day.It should be Christmas Day, I am sure, said she, on which one drinks the health of such an odious, stingy, hard, unfeeling man as Mr. Scrooge. . I am sure he loses pleasanter companions than he can find in his own thoughts, either in his mouldy old office, or his dusty chambers. Five minutes, ten minutes, a quarter of an hour went by, yet nothing came. Where angels might have sat enthroned, devils lurked, and glared out menacing. The children drank the toast after her. Remember that, and charge their doings on themselves, not us.. With a dimpled, surprised-looking, capital face; a ripe little mouth, that seemed made to be kissedas no doubt it was; all kinds of good little dots about her chin, that melted into one another when she laughed; and the sunniest pair of eyes you ever saw in any little creatures head. Scrooge was the Ogre of the family. M.A. Answer each of the following questions in the form of a sentence. "Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the Spirit, and was overcome with penitence and grief." Cratchits "Scrooge was the ogre of the family" Cratchits "They were not a handsome family" Fred "merry Christmas and a happy New Year to the old man, whatever he is!' said Scrooge's nephew. Where angels might have sat enthroned, devils lurked, and glared out menacing. Study Questions, Activities, and Resources, 130. The mention of his name cast a dark shadow on the party, which was not dispelled for full five minutes ' is a quotation from A Christmas Carol ( Stave 3 ). Never mind so long as you are come, said Mrs Cratchit. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Lesson Transcript. So Martha hid herself, and in came little Bob, the father, with at least three feet of comforter exclusive of the fringe, hanging down before him; and his threadbare clothes darned up and brushed, to look seasonable; and Tiny Tim upon his shoulder. The house fronts looked black enough, and the windows blacker, contrasting with the smooth white sheet of snow upon the roofs, and with the dirtier snow upon the ground; which last deposit had been ploughed up in deep furrows by the heavy wheels of carts and waggons; furrows that crossed and re-crossed each other hundreds of times where the great streets branched off; and made intricate channels, hard to trace in the thick yellow mud and icy water. Look here.. Gentlemen of the free-and-easy sort, who plume themselves on being acquainted with a move or two, and being usually equal to the time-of-day, express the wide range of their capacity for adventure by observing that they are good for anything from pitch-and-toss to manslaughter; between which opposite extremes, no doubt, there lies a tolerably wide and comprehensive range of subjects. Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse. Id give him a piece of my mind to feast upon, and I hope hed have a good appetite for it. Heres Martha, mother! said a girl, appearing as she spoke. A great deal of steam! So Martha hid herself, and in came little Bob, the father, with at least three feet of comforter exclusive of the fringe, hanging down before him; and his threadbare clothes darned up and brushed, to look seasonable; and Tiny Tim upon his shoulder. There all the children of the house were running out into the snow to meet their married sisters, brothers, cousins, uncles, aunts, and be the first to greet them. A smell like an eating-house and a pastrycooks next door to each other, with a laundresss next door to that! Such a bustle ensued that you might have thought a goose the rarest of all birds; a feathered phenomenon, to which a black swan was a matter of course-and in truth it was something very like it in that house. Here, again, were shadows on the window-blind of guests assembling; and there a group of handsome girls, all hooded and fur-booted, and all chattering at once, tripped lightly off to some near neighbours house; where, woe upon the single man who saw them enterartful witches, well they knew itin a glow! Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the Spirit, and was overcome with penitence and grief. (c) Copyright 2012 - 2023 The Circumlocution Office | All Rights Reserved | Built by The Circumlocution Office using WordPress. Two tumblers, and a custard-cup without a handle. Much they saw, and far they went, and many homes they visited, but always with a happy end. . All sorts of horrors were supposed. The mention of his name cast a dark shadow on the party, which was not dispelled for full five minutes. In A Christmas Carol, Scrooge is dramatically affected by the Cratchit familys poignant scene. To sea. Slander those who tell it ye! Latest answer posted December 04, 2020 at 2:51:25 PM. Learn how your comment data is processed. Scrooge promised that he would; and they went on, invisible, as they had been before, into the suburbs of the town. from The University of Texas at Arlington. Bob said he didnt believe there ever was such a goose cooked. Have they no refuge or resource? cried Scrooge. And at the same time there emerged from scores of bye-streets, lanes, and nameless turnings, innumerable people, carrying their dinners to the bakers shops. This girl is Want. He sat very close to his fathers side upon his little stool. This toasting is "the first of the proceedings which had no heartiness" since no one else feels anything but resentment toward Scrooge. These held the hot stuff from the jug, however, as well as golden goblets would have done; and Bob served it out with beaming looks, while the chestnuts on the fire sputtered and cracked noisily. But soon the steeples called good people all, to church and chapel, and away they came, flocking through the streets in their best clothes, and with their gayest faces. He rejoices to remember a "visit" from the storybook character Ali Baba. Study Questions, Activities, and Resources, 83. Study Questions, Activities, and Resources, 21. By the time the Ghost of Christmas Present takes Scrooge to see the Cratchit family celebrating their meager Christmas, Scrooge's heart has begun to be softened. On Christmas Eve. Perhaps, the Almighty may decide Scrooge to be "surplus," less worthy to live than "millions like this poor child. Id give him a piece of my mind to feast upon, and I hope hed have a good appetite for it. Prior to this visit, Scrooge had declared that if poor people would rather die than go to the workhouse or poorhouse, then they should just do it and decrease the surplus population. He did not care about their lives, and he does not seem to have cared about anything other than money. It was their turn to laugh now at the notion of his shaking Scrooge. The Daughters of the Late Colonel: VII, 182. The Importance of Being Earnest: Act I, 61. At last the plump sister, falling into a similar state, cried out: I have found it out! Again the Ghost sped on, above the black and heaving sea on, onuntil, being far away, as he told Scrooge, from any shore, they lighted on a ship. The poulterers shops were still half open, and the fruiterers were radiant in their glory. The Grocers! Im very glad to hear it, said Scrooges nephew, because I havent great faith in these young housekeepers. A glee is a song sung by three or more; a catch is a round, a song in which two or more voices sing the same melody but with each voice beginning at different times, as in Row, Row, Row Your Boat.. The sky was gloomy, and the shortest streets were choked up with a dingy mist, half thawed, half frozen, whose heavier particles descended in a shower of sooty atoms, as if all the chimneys in Great Britain had, by one consent, caught fire, and were blazing away to their dear hearts content. I wish I had him here. If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die., No, no, said Scrooge. She was very pretty: exceedingly pretty. Oh, no, kind Spirit! Scrooge is a miserly, cruel employer who treats the father of the Crachit family cruelly everyday but particularly on Christmas Eve. The Daughters of the Late Colonel: XII, 189. He rejects all offerings of Christmas cheer and celebration as 'Humbug!'. For they said, it was a shame to quarrel upon Christmas Day. Dickens says of Scrooge: ''To Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he was a second father. The text says that he is considered the "ogre" of the family. Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. But, they were happy, grateful, pleased with one another, and contented with the time; and when they faded, and looked happier yet in the bright sprinklings of the Spirits torch at parting, Scrooge had his eye upon them, and especially on Tiny Tim, until the last. As Mr. Simpson sat with a smile upon his face and said Yes, or Certainly, at intervals of about four minutes each, he received full credit for understanding what was going forward. If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die. Think of that! They were not a handsome family; they were not well dressed; their shoes were far from being water-proof; their clothes were scanty; and Peter might have known, and very likely did, the inside of a pawnbrokers.
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